Black Mist
by The Disposable Villain
Summary: Hogwarts isn't what anyone was expecting - muggleborn or pure-blood. This year really is a bag of sh- sorry, Arlene - terror for everyone. Transgender characters, non-binary characters, gay characters, bi characters, lesbian characters, cishet characters. Sirius x Remus. Scorpius x Albus. CW: Abusive teachers, swearing from particular characters, death. AU.
1. Chapter 01: I Bet You're Too Scared

**Hey guys! For those of you who are new to my writing, my name's Elliot! So this is a story I've been planning for a few weeks with my friends. It's honestly a little plot-less at the moment, but the main plot will be in their fourth year. The first few years will sort of be a bit ambiguous and get-to-know them, so they won't be that long. Just a few notes before we begin;**

 **1\. This is set in the same time period as The Cursed Child, but I won't be acknowledging that plot.**

 **2\. Sirius, Remus, and Severus are alive in this for reasons, but everyone else who died in the books is dead. (I'M SORRY, DOBBY!)**

 **3\. A lot of characters in this are trans, nonbinary, bisexual, gay, and lesbian. I will delete any transphobic or homophobic comments, and block the creators. These characters are also not representative of everyone in the community, and do not invalidate anyone else's experiences.**

 **4\. There will be swearing, especially from certain characters. *cough* Arthur, Sam, and Jack *cough***

 **5\. If there are possible triggers in chapters, I will post them at the start. If I miss one, post it in the comments or PM me and I will add it in.**

 **Okay, I think that's everything. Enjoy!**

* * *

There is only one word to describe King's Cross Station on the first of September each year, and that is; demented.

Rose White stood at the entrance, hands gripping the trolley in front of her, knuckles ghost-white. She glanced behind her, but she could already see the taxi pulling out of the station.

Too late to go back. And she wasn't even sure if he'd want her back.

She took a deep breath and pushed her trolley into the crowd of people mulling around the station. Somewhere around platform nine. That's all she knew.

She hadn't even seen her letter. Her father had just ordered her things by letter, and insisted she would find her way.

She glanced at her ticket again. Platform nine and three quarters. Okay. It couldn't be that hard to find.

She slowed as she neared platform nine and ten. Nothing. Well, that was only to be expected. She hesitated before pressing her hand against one of the pillars. Maybe a button or-

"Are you alright, Miss?"

She looked up as the conductor approached and opened her mouth. Then paused. No, if she asked about the platform, he would probably deem her insane. "I'm fine."

"If you're sure." He adjusted his cap. "Where's your family?"

"I'm getting on the eleven thirty train to go back to them." She forced a smile.

He watched her for a moment before nodding. "Alright. Carry on then."

He turned away as a group of French-speaking tourists approached him.

Rose took a breath and pushed her trolley to the next pillar and tried it. Nothing.

She looked around. This wasn't working. Maybe someone else could help. Her eyes landed on a girl about her age a few metres away.

Thin, brown hair scraped back into a ponytail sharpened her face and made her glasses look bigger than they probably should have. A heavy brown trunk sat atop her trolley, and Rose could see a light brown stick poking out of the pocket of her sweatpants.

Better than nothing. Rose took a breath and walked over to her with the trolley in tow. "Nine and three quarters?" She mumbled.

The girl jumped and looked up at her. "Uh…" Her brown eyes brightened as she processed what Rose had said. "Yes!"

"Okay, good. Do you know where it is?" Rose asked, her tone lighter.

The girl's shoulders slumped, and that gave Rose enough of an answer. "I thought you did."

Rose sighed. She wouldn't have gone up to her if she did. "Oh."

The girl hesitated and held out her hand. "I'm Arlene McCarthy."

"Rose White." Rose took her hand and shook it, though she was already looking around again.

"Do you know anything about it?"

"I just kind of assumed it'd be hidden and somewhere between nine and ten," Rose admitted. "I've been checking pillars to see if there's any buttons or anything."

"Maybe we could use these?" Arlene fumbled for her wand.

Rose stopped her with a shake of her head. "We'd probably end up in trouble if someone saw." Plus they were dangerous if you didn't know how to use them.

Arlene hesitated. "Maybe we could try to find someone else then?"

Rose nodded. Not a bad idea, but she couldn't see anyone- Never mind.

"Muggles _everywhere_. I don't know what the world is coming to." It was hissed, but Arlene and Rose happened to be close enough to hear it.

The parents both wore billowing robes, two boys following behind. One stood tall, but his shoulders were hunched and head low. The other's back was straight, making him almost the same height as the former.

Rose nodded towards the group and she and Arlene followed the path they made through the crowd.

"Karl, be careful about who you're friends with, understand? None of those Weasley children – a few are going in this year."

The first boy gave a nod, a few strands of blonde hair falling into his face.

"Good."

Rose frowned. "Should we be following these guys?" Arlene mumbled.

"Probably not," she admitted. "We'll just avoid them once we're through."

They stopped at the pillar between platform nine and ten. Arlene and Rose stopped a few feet behind them and watched as the parents walked through the pillar.

"Did that just-"

"Yeah, yeah I think so…"

"And the-"

"They didn't even-"

Arlene shook her head. The two boys went next, the single trolley between them. They disappeared.

Rose glanced at her. "Do you want to try first?"

"No, do you?"

"No."

Arlene looked at her. "I insist that you go first."

"No you."

"Hey, I'm trying to be polite."

"Oh, I'm sure you are." Rose folded her arms and Arlene gave her a sheepish grin. "Same time?"

"Alright…" Arlene nodded.

Their first few steps were hesitant, but they found themselves running through the barrier. A cold feeling washed over them as the light shining through the rooftop windows disappeared, but seconds later they were back in the train station.

Or rather, _a_ train station.

Only one platform remained, and one train sat at it – old, and coal-powered. _Hogwarts Express_ gleamed along the edges in brilliant golden font.

Rose pulled to a stop just before she could crash into someone. "Sorry!"

The person turned – the boy from before. He offered a small smile. "Don't worry about it."

Rose hesitated and gave a curt nod. "Thanks." She looked back at the train.

There was ten minutes before departure time, and most people were still milling around.

"Did you see Teddy kissing Victoria?"

"No, seriously. I got these from the Weasley shop – they work. Trust me."

"Mate, knock it off! Those muggle tricks are _weird_."

"Did you see the snake that first year has?"

Arlene took a deep breath. "I sort of don't want to get on."

"Me neither," Rose mumbled. She pushed her trolley over to one of the walls and grabbed her trunk.

"I thought you didn't want to?"

"I don't, but I don't have a ride home."

Arlene opened her mouth to argue, but paused. "Okay, yeah, me neither," she laughed. She grabbed her trunk and hauled it up, but staggered back into the blonde boy. "Sorry!"

"It's fine." The boy grimaced but gave her a smile. "Do you want some help?"

Rose gave him a withering scowl. "Don't you have some muggles to avoid?"

He looked away. "Not really, no."

Arlene tried to lift her trunk again. "I'll be fine. Thanks though." She staggered again and the boy caught one end of it. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He smiled. "My stuff's already on the train, so I'll help you."

Arlene glanced at Rose, who sighed but shrugged. "I don't mind. It's your case."

Arlene gave the boy a smile. "Thanks. I'm Arlene."

"Karl." He returned the smile as they shuffled up towards the train with Rose behind them.

"Let's just go into the nearest carriage," Arlene decided, her voice straining as she adjusted her grip. "I think I overpacked a little."

Karl nodded. "I think I'm in that one too, so that's-" His arm shook under the weight. "-handy."

"I'll get the door," Rose sighed as they walked a little way past the first carriage so she could get in.

She held the door open for them as they squeezed through.

"Here, I'll help." Someone with short blonde hair stood from their seat. They took the trunk and hoisted it over their shoulders, up onto the overhead railing.

"Thanks," Arlene breathed. "Hopefully it won't fall on top of us now."

"Agreed." Rose pushed her bag up onto the shelf. "I'm Rose, that's Karl and Arlene."

The person turned to Arlene and held their hand out with a straight face. "Nice to meet you Karl."

Arlene took their hand with a small groan. "And you, er..."

They hesitated. "Jay."

"And you, Jay." Arlene grinned.

Jay turned to Karl. "And you must be Arlene."

"Oh, yes. Definitely." Karl smiled.

A whistle blew and the train began moving. Arlene stood on her toes and shoved her trunk in a little more – just in case – while everyone sat down.

Jay reached into their pocket and pulled out a packet of cards. "Exploding Snap?"

"Yes!" Karl grinned.

Arlene blinked. "What?"

"You've never played Exploding Snap?" Jay gawked at her. "Okay, come on." They pulled out the table from the wall and began shuffling their deck. "I'll teach you."

* * *

Elliot pulled open the door and hesitated when he saw someone inside. "Uh… hi."

The girl glanced up, black, curly hair falling over her shoulder. "Hey."

"Um…" Elliot licked his lips. "Is it okay if I sit in here? All the other carriages are full."

"Sure, I don't mind." She shook her head.

"Thanks." Elliot nodded and pulled his bag inside – a suitcase. His parents hadn't been keen on the trunk – "It's too impractical!" He forced it up onto the shelf and dropped into his seat. "I'm Elliot Quinn."

"Jade O'Connor." She gave a small smile.

Elliot dug into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a packet of mints. "Want one?"

"Sure, thanks."

He held out the packet and dropped three into her hand before taking one himself. They sat in silence for a moment, both sucking on the sweets.

Elliot bit the mint and winced at the loud crunch it made. "Um… Are your parents… Are you…?"

"Are they magic?" Jade's eyebrow arched. Elliot nodded. "No. What about yours?"

Elliot relaxed and shook his head. "No. I'm sort of worried I'll screw something up or they'll tell me they made a mistake."

Jade hummed. "As far as I know, they don't make mistakes. Plus they could check over it with magic, right?"

Elliot gave her a smile. "I guess so."

"Exactly." She nodded. "You'll be fine."

The door wrenched open, and Elliot jumped.

"I swear to God we're going to die in his car!" A boy complained as he dragged his trunk into the car. The boy behind him hummed in agreement, but didn't seem all that involved in the conversation. "He Confounded the driving tester. He had to have."

"Uh…" Elliot glanced at Jade, who shrugged.

"Yeah, but he's still technically allowed to drive."

The first boy lugged his trunk up onto the shelf beside Jade's with a grunt, followed by a carrier case, and plopped down beside her. "Legal my ass; they'll take away his licence before he even gets home." Jade blinked a few times at the language that fell from Jack's mouth.

"Then you don't need to worry about his driving." The second struggled a little and Elliot stood to help him. "Ugh, thanks." He sat down. "And there are other humans here."

The first blinked and looked over at Jade and Elliot, as though only processing their existence now. "Oh. Hi."

Elliot gave him a tiny wave while Jade nodded, unamused.

The second boy rolled heterochromatic eyes. "Sorry about him. I'm Arthur, and that asshole is Jack." Again, Jade blinked a few times. Elliot paused, as though processing that asshole had actually been used in a sentence.

"I resent that." Jack folded his arms, teal eyes narrowed. His purple fringe hung above them, not quite emo-styled but very much getting there.

"I'm Elliot."

"Jade."

"Muggleborns?" Jack guessed. Elliot's eyes widened. "Mate, you don't even have a _trunk_ , how on earth would you be pure-blood?"

"Pure-blood?"

"There's generally three blood types," Arthur explained. "Muggleborns; people who have non-magic parents. Half-bloods; people who have one non-magic parent or grandparent, and one magic. Pure-blood; people who have only magic relatives."

"Ah." Jade nodded. "So you're both either half-blood or pure-blood then?"

"Yeah." Arthur nodded. "Pure-blood."

"And proud of it." Jack hit his chest with his fist. "Not like those watered down Weasleys."

"Jack, they don't realise you're joking."

"Right, sorry." Jack slumped back in his seat and looked at Arthur. "Did you see the Malfoy kid? How much do you want to bet he'll be in Slytherin?"

"I don't know." Arthur shook his head. "He was in my class. He's pretty kind. Might be a Hufflepuff."

Jade leaned forward, arms on her knees. "Can you remember that we have _no idea about what you're talking about_?"

"Sorry." Jack shrugged. He didn't sound it. "The Malfoys were a really elitist family of pure-bloods. Still are. Only one or two of them broke the tradition."

"And Slitheran and Huffpuff?" Elliot asked.

Jack stared at him for a moment before laughing. Arthur covered his mouth and tried not to as Elliot's face turned red. "H-Huffpuff, I-" Jack shook his head and started laughing harder.

"I'm sorry!" Elliot huffed.

Arthur shook his head. Curly brown hair bounced on his forehead. "Don't be; like I said, he's an asshole." Jack waved a dismissive hand and kept laughing. "At Hogwarts there are four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."

"Huffpuff and Slitheran," Jack corrected, still snickering.

Jade's lip quirked. "It was sort of funny."

Elliot groaned and hid his face in his hands. "No it wasn't!"

"Just a little."

Arthur grinned. "You're sorted into them based off…" He looked at Jack. "Traits? What you value?" Jack was still laughing. "Okay." He turned back to Jade and Elliot. "So Slytherin is for people who are ambitious, cunning, and proud. Merlin was from Slytherin."

Elliot blinked slowly. "I thought he was a myth."

"Oh wow. Okay." Jack started laughing again, though his first bout had just begun to die down.

"No that's fair," Jade agreed. "He's a fictional character in a muggle fairy tale about King Arthur."

Arthur wiggled his eyebrows. "You may now call me King Arthur."

Jack stopped laughing and glared at Jade. "Look at what you've done. You've taken a perfectly good wizard and given him confidence."

Arthur flipped him off. "Okay, Ravenclaw values wit, wisdom, learning, creativity, arts-y kind of things basically. Uh… Gryffindor… is bravery…" He frowned. "Jack, what else is Gryffindor?"

Jack cleared his throat and put on the poshest English voice he could manage – which wasn't all that far a jump from his regular accent. "Daring, nerve, and _chivalry_ , my good man."

"Right." Arthur nodded. "And then Hufflepuff-"

"Huffpuff," Jack and Jade corrected. Elliot frowned at them.

"Hufflepuff," Arthur continued, "is dedication, patience, and loyalty."

"They're basically the little puppies of Hogwarts." Jack rolled his eyes and looked at Elliot. "You'll definitely be a fucking Hufflepuff. Mark my words."

"Um…" Elliot hesitated. "Okay."

He then flickered to Jade. "I have no clue what you'll be. Maybe a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor."

"Yeah, maybe," Jade agreed.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" A voice called, and the door was pulled back to reveal a smiling woman pushing a cart overflowing with sweets.

Jack's eyes lit up. " _Everything_."

"Jack, no."

"Jack, _yes_."

* * *

"Firs' years, o'er here!"

Sam jumped at the first bellow but followed the sound over to the growing crowd surrounding a man nearly twice the size of an average human, and five times as wide. Grey hair clung to his beard and he smiled at them, eyes twinkling. "Alrigh', there should be abou' a hundred o'yeh." He glanced around. "Is anyone missin' a friend?" Silence. "Firs' years, o'er here!" He called once more. The station was emptying, and no one ran over to him. "Alrigh', that seems abou' right. My name's Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Ground of Hogwarts, and I'll be takin' yeh to the castle. C'mon, an' leave yer trunks in a pile at the side. They'll be taken care of." He waved a hand and turned towards the steps.

He led them down a narrow path, instructing them to go two together at most, until they reached the edge of a lake.

"Four to a boat!" He called and people began scrambling to get in beside friends. "No more than four! Oi, mate, don't lose that cat!"

Sam waited for a minute or two and moved to one of the last boats with seats available. They recognised the boy – they had seen him saying goodbye to his parents at the station, but the other two they hadn't met before.

None of them really spoke aside from a mumbled greeting, and a jolt as the boats took off on their own. None of the three in the boat seemed that surprised, but Sam and one of the two clung to the sides of the boat.

The first girl smirked.

"Alrigh' duck under the ledge!" Hagrid called. "For Merlin's sakes, man, don't lose that cat in the water!"

Sam almost glanced around to try and spot the cat, but the ledge was too close to risk it. They lowered their head.

Ivy brushed over the tops of their backs.

"Yeh can look now!"

The castle stood on a hill, illuminated by a fiery glow. Towers steeped and cut through the night sky, windows blazing with light inside. The cliff it sat on hung over the lake, and Sam had to arch their head to keep it in his line of vision.

The boat bumped into the shore, and everyone began climbing out. "Not far left!" Hagrid assured them. Sam clambered out of the boat and stared at the hill.

"I'm not sure I can climb that," they mumbled. Their chest ached at the mere thought of it.

"Ye'll be fine, lass." Hagrid clapped their shoulder. "Le's go!"

Sam huffed but followed the stream of students up the hill. It was a slow incline – the kind that makes your legs burn as you walk and your lungs clench, though it feels like you're walking on flat ground and makes you question your fitness.

Then, inside the castle, there were more stairs to climb. Outside a large set of wooden doors, Hagrid stopped and leaned against the railing. Sam joined him in doing so.

"Alrigh', the Headmistress shoul' be here in a momen' or two. Don't move from here." He pointed at them. "We'll know if you do." He turned away and squeezed through the doors, trying to keep it as narrow as possible so they wouldn't see through it.

"What do you think will happen?" The boy from the boat mumbled to Sam. "I heard someone say you need to pull a rabbit out of a hat."

"That's stupid." Sam shook their head. White hair flopped down onto their nose and they pushed it up out of their face again. "We don't know any magic yet."

"I do." The boy grinned. "A little, anyway."

"Wow, great." Sam gave him a grin, a little too wide. "A triple plus for effort!"

The boy scowled and Sam's grin grew.

A hush fell over the students and Sam felt their shoulder tense. They looked up as a tall woman in long, green robes and a pointed hat descended the stairs.

She stood in front of them, critical gaze sweeping over the crowd, jaw sharp and pointed and tight, even as she spoke.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. I'm your Headmistress, Professor McGonagall. Upon entering the Great Hall behind me, you will put on a hat and be sorted into one of four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin." The final name fell from her lips with disdain. "Over the course of the year, your houses will battle for the House Cup, which will be won based on points at the end of each year. Good behaviour will earn you points, and bad behaviour will lose them for your entire house." Her eyes softened – just a touch. "Your house here will become your family. Treat them with respect, and you shall receive it in return." She eyed a little boy holding a kitten. "I expect you to be silent upon entering the hall, and to behave with the dignity expected of you." A few nods, a few shuffles. "Very well."

"Professor?" The person from the boat ran up to her and mumbled something.

After a moment, she nodded. "I'll make a note of that. Thank you." She turned towards the doors, wand sliding down from her sleeve. With a quick flick, they swung open and she strode inside. The first years scrambled to follow her inside, all eyes turned to them. They halted a few metres away from the teachers' table. Two tables stood on either side of them, the nearest housing students wearing blue and gold, and yellow and black. They halted a few metres away from the teachers' table. Two tables stood on either side of them, the nearest housing students wearing blue and gold, and yellow and black.

Professor McGonagall stood behind an elaborate golden stand, a scroll clenched in her hand. Beside her, on a three legged-stool, a ragged hat sat.

For a moment, nothing spoke. Then, the hat's mouth moved and it burst into song.

"Oh you may think I'm ugly,  
But you judge only off what you see.  
I will eat myself, you see,  
If you find you're smarter than me!

You can keep your neat-trimmed robes  
And everything for which you mortals fall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap it all.

There's nothing you can hide from me,  
Everything I can see.  
Put me on, atop your head,  
Let's see where you should be!

You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart.  
Their daring nerve and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart.

You might belong in Hufflepuff  
Where they are just and loyal.  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil.

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
If you've a steady mind,  
Where those of wit and learning  
Will always find their kind.

Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends.  
Those cunning folks use any means  
To achieve their ends.

So put me on, don't be afraid,  
And don't get in a flap!  
I'll find you a lovely home,  
For I'm the Sorting Hat!"

As the older years and patches of the first years clapped, Professor McGonagall unfurled the scroll. "When I call out your name," she announced after the last of the clapping had died, bar the occasional sharp one that rang through from one or two people wanting to be last, "come up to the seat and sit down." She picked up the sorting hat and glanced at the list. "Adams, Ellen."

A round faced girl with deep brown hair scrambled up to the stool, cheeks red. Professor McGonagall set the hat on her head. After a second, the hat bellowed, "RAVENCLAW!"

The table closest to Sam exploded in cheers and she hurried over to it.

"Beaumont, Arthur."

A boy with curly brown hair strode up to the stool and perched on it, hands in his lap. The hat barely touched his head. "SLYTHERIN!"

Arthur moved to the table a little further down from Sam that began cheering as Professor McGonagall called out the next name. "Beaumont, Jack."

Jack, probably a relative of Arthur's, walked up, shoulders back and head high. He barely even leaned against the chair, though the hat sat on his head for a second or two before calling, "SLYTHERIN!"

"Carlyle, Devie."

One of the girls from the boat Sam was in. She walked slowly, possibly out of leisure, or maybe nerves. She sat on the stool, and the hat hummed for a moment on her head. "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Clayton, Angel."

Sam had seen Angel on the train correcting a snickering boy half their age about their pronouns. Their short brown-blond hair was pulled into a thin ponytail with bangs framing their freckled face as they sat on the stool. The hat didn't even touch their head. "GRYFFINDOR!"

Sam tuned out for a few people until they heard their name.

"Dire, Samuel."

Sam barely even managed to react. Their chosen name on an official form? They stumbled up to the chair and sat on it, feet perched on the bridge between the legs.

The hat sat on their head, slipping over their eyes.

" _Hm_." Sam jumped. " _Plenty of ambition. Brave too, that's good."_ The voice hung, gravelly in their ears. " _Loyal. But you're creative, and very smart. You want to be an artist? Well then. I think I know where to put you._ " The voice stopped for a second. "RAVENCLAW!"

The blue and gold table burst into cheers as the hat was lifted from Sam's head. They grinned and made their way over to the table as another first year was called up. One of the older students they ended up next to patted them on the shoulder and grinned at them.

"Hughes, Saoirse."

One of the girls from the boat. Brown roots flowed down to blonde strands around her lower back as she walked up to the stool. She sat down and looked up as the hat was lowered onto her head.

Sam could see the mouth of the hat mumbling something to her. Finally, "SLYTHERIN!"

The green and silver table behind Sam broke out in cheers and whoops as the hat was lifted off her head. Saoirse grinned and made her way down.

"Odd," an older student beside Sam mumbled, "I could have sworn her family was Gryffindor…"

"Lumieux, Karl."

The older student tensed. "Bad family," she mumbled to them as the blonde shuffled up to the stool. "They supported Voldemort in the second battle."

Sam just nodded. They didn't know much about it, but the kid seemed pretty harmless.

The hat landed on his head. "SLYTHERIN!"

"Of course," the older student scoffed. "There's not a bad witch or wizard that doesn't come from there."

"Peter Pettigrew was Gryffindor," another student reminded her.

"You know what I mean," she muttered. "They're a bad lot."

Sam shifted a little further away from her.

"Malfoy, Scorpius!"

A boy with pure white hair – Sam scowled at their own hair, mumbling, "Why can't you be like that," under their breath to it – moved up to the stool.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Of course," the girl mumbled. "Malfoys are nearly as bad as the Lumieux family."

"Nearly." The boy shrugged. "Draco Malfoy turned around in the war."

"Maybe."

"McCarthy, Arlene."

The girl hopped up onto the chair, and the hat slid down over most of her face. "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"There's less this year than most years," the older girl mumbled to her friend.

He nodded. "The war would've cut down numbers. A lot of possible parents would have died in the Battle of Hogwarts. Plus Death Eaters went on rampage soon after and probably killed more than a few babies. "

"I guess," she agreed.

"Mulvany, Kieran!"

The boy that had been in the boat with Sam. He made his way up, hands in the pockets of his robe. The hat perched on top of his glasses for a short while, pressing down his mousey brown fringe before bellowing, "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Still, I thought there'd be more," she sighed.

"O'Connor, Jade."

A girl with black hair down to the bottom of her back walked up, sliding back onto the stool. Like Sam, the hat sat on her head for a moment or two before deciding, "RAVENCLAW!"

"Good," the girl groaned, clapping along with the table. "We haven't gotten enough yet."

"Potter, Albus."

"Oh, here we go." The girl's eyes lit up. "Gryffindor, for sure."

The boy had straight black hair and bright green eyes that shone from his place on the stool as the hat covered them.

It was silent for longer than anyone else. "SLYTHERIN!"

A deathly hush fell over the hall before the Slytherins began cheering.

"Who was that?" Sam asked.

The girl stared at them. "Harry Potter's son! He saved the wizarding world in the war, and has a history of being in Gryffindor, as well as a rivalry with Slytherin!" She turned to gape at Albus, who sat beside Scorpius. "Wow… Never thought he'd be one of them."

"Quinn, Elliot!"

He rushed up and hopped onto the chair, face red and auburn hair pushed back from his face with what seemed to be half a tub of gel. "SLYTHERIN!"

Behind them, Sam heard someone start coughing and they turned to see Jack at the Slytherin table hitting his chest and spluttering over his drink as Elliot rushed to sit down.

"There's a good few Slytherins this year," the girl muttered. "Think that means something?"

Across from her, another girl shook her head. "Nah. Hopefully they'll be the next Merlins instead of the next Voldemorts."

"When a Potter is there too, I hope you're right." She shook her head.

"Randles, Salem."

A blonde boy with shaggy hair stepped up and sat on the stool. The one who had tried to impress Sam with his _extensive knowledge_ of spells.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"I think I know him," the girl mumbled. "His brother's in our year. I think in Gryffindor too."

"Oh, yeah. Rick, right?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"Smith, Jay."

The short-haired person from the boat hesitated before walking up, shoulders back and a small, nervous grin on their face. They sat, their legs long enough for their feet to touch the ground.

The hat didn't even touch their head. "RAVENCLAW!"

Their grin grew as they made their way over to the roaring table of blue and gold.

"Not much left," the girl noted. "Think we'll get a few more?"

"Hopefully," the girl across from her agreed. "We only got about fifteen."

"Weasley-Granger, Rose."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Shit."

The boy elbowed her. "First years."

"Sorry!" She held up her hands defensively. "I wanted Hermione Granger's daughter; is that such a bad thing?"

"Still, watch your mouth."

"White, Rose."

The last one.

"Oh, hopefully we'll get her," the girl mumbled as a girl with blonde-red hair pulled into a ponytail walked up to the stool, face pale. "Everyone always remembers the first and last student. It'd be great if we got both."

The hat slid back on her head, held in place by the band in her hair. "RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaw table erupted as Rose made her way down and sat beside Sam, the older girl moving over to make room for her. Sam gave her a small smile as Professor McGonagall closed the Sorting ceremony and opened the feast.

Food appeared on plates across the hall, and Sam found themself grabbing for as much as they could, even though they knew they wouldn't eat half of it.

"You know there's dessert afterwards too, right?" Rose asked. Sam paused and put back the spoonful of mashed potato he had been about to take. "I thought so."

* * *

"I warned you about desert," Rose mumbled, shaking her head as she and the rest of the Ravenclaw first years followed the prefect up a flight of stairs to the tower.

"Yeah, I get it," Sam groaned, clutching their stomach. "But the stairs aren't exactly helping."

"And neither did eating five profiteroles, chocolate cake, trifle, and whatever else you grabbed."

"Shut up," Sam muttered.

The group shuffled to a halt, and Rose put an arm in front of Sam to stop them walking into someone.

"The Ravenclaw common rooms lie behind this door," the prefect announced. "As you can see, there is no door handle or keyhole. To get inside, you are asked a question by the knocker here." She gestured to the eagle-shaped knocker hanging from the heavy oaken door. "If you answer incorrectly, you must wait for someone else to come along and answer it correctly."

She turned to the door. It's voice was calm and soothing, though as it spoke, Rose couldn't identify a mouth. "What always comes but never arrives?"

The prefect looked around at the first years. "Tomorrow?" Jade suggested.

"Tomorrow," the prefect confirmed.

The door knocker hummed. "Wise choice." The door creaked open, and the prefect pressed it open further.

"Go on, head inside." They filed in, spreading out across the vast room inside.

The walls were circular and arched windows were draped in royal blues and golds. The carpet below them was adorned with shining stars, as was the roof above.

On closer inspection, the carpet seemed to be reflected on the room. Maybe by a mirror? Probably magic.

Shining chairs and desks were dotted around the room, and tall, thick bookshelves with ladders fastened to the walls.

"This is the Ravenclaw common room," the prefect announced, closing the door behind her. "You can come here during your free time, to do homework, weekends, between classes. You can also go down to the library. The dorms are behind the statue of the founder of Ravenclaw behind you – Rowena Ravenclaw." Pretty much everyone turned to stare at the marble statue of the woman behind them, a glistening diadem perched on her head. "Girls on the right, boys on the left. Names should be on the doors. We have a few extra beds if there are any mistakes."

Sam sighed as they followed Rose to the right of the statue. "There's magic. You'd think there'd be a spell to stop stomach aches."

"There probably is," Rose commented. "You just don't know it."

"Maybe." Sam climbed up a few steps. There was a grating sound and the stairs disappeared under them. Sam quickly jumped back and landed on their feet, just catching Rose before she could stumble back into Jade.

A few girls screeched as they slipped and skated back down to the bottom.

"Ah, shoot." The prefect rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry about that. Dire, boys dorm, room five."

Sam blinked. "What?"

"Boys dorm, room five," the prefect repeated. "The stairs only let girls or non-binary femme people go up to the girls' dorms." Sam hesitated. "Your stuff should be up there when you get there." She looked over as something similar happened at the boys' stairs. "Oh, sorry! Smith, right? You can go up to the girls' dorms, room four then."

"Uh..." Sam blinked again, a small grin growing across their face. "Okay. Thanks!"

They made their way over to the other side of the statue, passing Jay on their way. "All this time in the closet and I get outed by the bloody stairs," Sam heard them mutter under their breath.

Sam snorted and covered their mouth. When they began climbing, the stairs stayed stairs. At room five, a list of four names hung from a piece of parchment nailed to the door.

Johnson, Ahmed.

Creedon, Chris.

Gallagher, James.

Dire, Samuel.

Sam pushed open the door. The room, like the common room, was round and stone, with four canopy beds pushed against the walls.

Their three other roommates were already clambering into bed, and one of them gave Sam a small wave before crashing into his pillows.

Sam stumbled over to the last empty bed, their trunk at the side, and followed their example of falling into a pit of sleep.

* * *

The Charms classroom was airy, the seating tiered with wooden desks and stools, three per row and one aisle down the middle. Only the teachers' desk sat on the ground, bare bar one book.

Arlene glanced around as she walked in, gripping the strap of her bag. She had triple checked her timetable just to make sure that she had Charms in _this specific room_ at _this specific time_.

She didn't exactly like being the first to the class, but she always seemed to end up being the person who was sitting there ten minutes before the class started.

She chose a seat towards the middle – she could see the board, but was still far back enough to doodle without being seen if she got distracted.

As she slid into her seat, a red-haired boy peeked into the room. His eyes landed on Arlene and he gave her a small smile before walking in.

She returned it as he neared her. "Is it okay if I sit here?" He asked, tone cautious and quiet.

"Yeah, of course." Arlene nodded and moved her bag over to give him more room.

"Thanks." He gave her a grateful smile and sat beside her. "I'm Elliot."

"Arlene." She reached down and pulled her Charms book out of her bulging bag. Going down to the Hufflepuff dorms was too much of a bother between classes, so she had stuffed all of her books into her bag.

Hopefully it wouldn't rip before the end of the term.

As she came back up, she noticed Elliot staring at her bag. "How have you not broken your shoulder?" He whispered.

She started laughing. "Honestly, I don't know; I've done this since I was five."

Elliot looked up at her, eyes wide. "Like… me too, but…" He looked back at her bag. "You have _every book in there_."

"I'll be fine." Arlene waved a hand. "Probably."

Elliot hesitated. "Don't die, friend. It's the first day."

"I'll be fine," Arlene repeated. People were beginning to file in, though no one took the empty seat beside Elliot. She pulled out her pencil case and took out a pencil. She favoured them over quills. "Did you forget your tie in the dorms?"

"Hm?" Elliot looked down. "Oh. Yeah." He rubbed the back of his head. "I kind of thought they were optional."

Arlene shook her head, smiling. "I can lend you one if you want. I have a spare."

Elliot hesitated, glancing at her tie. "Uh…"

"Hey." They both jumped and looked up as a boy dropped into the seat beside Elliot.

Elliot sighed. "Jack… Please…"

"I'm going to keep doing it." Jack grinned at him and looked at Arlene. "Hey."

"Hi." Arlene gave him a polite nod.

Jack glanced at Elliot. "You forgot your tie in the dorms?"

"I didn't mean to." Elliot folded his arms.

"People are going to think you're a bloody Hufflepuff."

Elliot's cheeks heated up as Arlene blinked a few times. "You mean you're not Hufflepuff?"

Jack started snickering. "See? Even a Hufflepuff thinks you're a Hufflepuff."

Elliot scowled at him. "Yeah, well I'm a Slytherin. And I don't see why me being mistaken for a Hufflepuff is so funny."

"You will." Jack shook his head. "Oh, trust me, you will."

The woman who walked in caused a hush, heels sharp on the stone floor. She wore a black pants-suit with a horribly flowered blouse that made her face look redder than it was meant to. Her blonde hair hung greasy and flat around her face, and her eyes were beady slits of blue as she leaned against her desk. "Good morning."

"Morning," a few chorused. One person yawned.

"As some of you may know, I'm Professor Gaffney." Her smile grew. "I'll be your Charms teacher for hopefully the next seven years." She tittered as though she had just told a joke. Elliot, Jack, and Arlene shared a glance. "Alright, wands out. Today we'll be practicing the hovering charm." She flicked her wand and a feather floated down to each person. "Repeat after me. _Wingardium Leviosa_."

"Wingadum Levisa," one person muttered.

Professor Gaffney's smile grew strained. " _Wingardium Leviosa_." A few people got it right this time. "Good. Now move your wand like so-" She flicked her wand up. " _Wingardium Leviosa_." Her feather floated up, and down again.

Jack raised a hand, one eyebrow raised. "I don't know if it's such a good idea to get us to try this so early," he commented, "given that someone pronounced it Wingadum Levisa, which could result in the feather blowing up."

Professor Gaffney only smiled at him. "Well I've never had anything like that happen to anyone in my class before, and I don't see why it should happen now."

"Really?" Jack hummed.

"Yes," she snapped. "Now practice the spell."

Arlene took out her wand. "Wend... _Wingardium Leviosa_." She flicked her wand up, but nothing happened.

"Wrong pronunciation. Soften the 'sa' a bit," Jack mumbled to her. "Try again."

" _Wingardium Leviosa_ ," she repeated. When she flicked her wand, the feather lifted a little, and dropped down again. Her eyes lit up.

"Beaumont, leave McCarthy to do her own work, and you concentrate on yours," Professor Gaffney called.

From another aisle, Arthur looked up from his feather. "What?"

"Not you." Professor Gaffney shot him a glare and looked back at Jack. "Stop distracting others."

Jack rolled his eyes and took out his wand. " _Wingardium Leviosa_ ," he drawled. His flick was more fluid and he directed the feather up, in a circle, and back down again.

Professor Gaffney gritted her teeth as beside him, Elliot frowned at his feather. "Jack, could you-"

"Beaumont, stop distracting other students."

"He was asking me for help," Jack protested. "I wasn't even talking."

"Minus ten points for Slytherin for talking out of turn."

One or two people groaned. Jack just snorted. "I'm just trying to help him get the spell right. Isn't that what you're meant to be doing?"

If her face was red before, there was no word on earth to describe the shade it turned. "I'm a facilitator; it's meant to be up to the students to do their own learning. I can't work with people who don't work with me."

"Yes, but Arlene and Elliot seem pretty willing to learn to me." Jack folded his arms.

"Minus twenty points for Slytherin," Professor Gaffney yelled. "Congratulations, Beaumont. In the first ten minutes, you have managed to lose all of Slytherin's points."

"Oh, is that a record?" Jack grinned.

"Detention, Beaumont," she snapped. "See me after class."

Elliot's shoulders were up as far as his ears as she latched her attention onto someone else's. "Sorry..."

"What for?" Jack shrugged.

"I got you in trouble..."

"Don't be." Jack waved him off. "Besides, I broke a record and it isn't even midday." He grinned. "Come on, you guys try the spell again."

Arlene cleared her throat. " _Wingardium Leviosa_!" She managed to direct the feather a little more, but it dropped down the side of the table.

"Okay, that's better, but what you want to do is-"

* * *

"Alright, class." Professor McIntyre strode between the desks. "Focus. We worked on the pronunciation and the wand movements last class. It's time to put them into practice."

Jade scowled at the galleon in front of her. "It's not that hard," Arthur commented. "Watch." He flicked his wand. " _Geminio_."

A second galleon shimmered and plopped onto the desk beside the first.

Professor McIntyre picked it up and examined it. "Nice work, Beaumont. Keep going."

Arthur grinned and shot a smirk over his shoulder. Jade turned to see both Jack and Sam glaring at him.

"You try."

Jade looked back at Arthur. "Sorry, what?"

Arthur waved at the coins. "Try the spell."

Jade hesitated and cleared her throat. "Right." She waved her wand, wider than Arthur had. " _Geminio_."

"No, not like that."

Jade frowned. "Like what? I did it like you did."

"Yeah, but your wand did a thing."

"What _thing_?" Jade's frown deepened.

Arthur flourished his wand. "That thing. You need to keep it tighter. Like this." He flicked it. " _Geminio_." Another coin appeared.

"But that's the same as how I did it." Jade waved her wand again, though it was tighter and less fluid than before. " _Geminio_!" Nothing.

"You're doing it wrong."

"I can see that."

Arthur sighed. "Look, keep it fluid." He moved his wand slower. "Just don't wave it around like a di- delightful kite. Okay. I don't know what happened there."

Jade stared at him. "Okay. So I just... don't wave it around?"

"Like a delightful kite," Arthur confirmed.

"Okay." Jade nodded. She flicked her wand. " _Geminio_." Nothing. "What did I do now?"

"Not kite-y enough."

Jade groaned and fell into her arms. "I give up."

"It's the second day."

"I don't care. I give up."

Arthur waved his wand aimlessly. "Come on, you're fine. Try again."

Jade groaned and pushed herself up. " _Geminio_."

"You didn't even wave your wand that time."

"Don't care."

"At least try."

Jade huffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine." She flicked her wand. " _Geminio_." A coin shimmered, and half of it appeared on the table.

"Okay." Arthur nodded. "Hey, it's better than before."

Jade shook her head. "Not really."

"Well at least you managed to get a bit of a coin." Arthur picked it up and tilted his head.

"Keep trying, O'Connor," Professor McIntyre commented as he passed them again. "You're making good progress."

Jade huffed and tried again. " _Geminio_." Nothing. "Great, now I'm going backwards." She slumped backwards in her chair.

Arthur hummed and picked up the galleons he had successfully duplicated. "I wonder if I can use these in shops…"

"Isn't that illegal?" Jade raised an eyebrow.

"Don't think so." Arthur shrugged. "Why?"

"It is in the muggle world."

"Yeah, but muggles are weird."

"Touché," Jade conceded.

Professor McIntyre clapped his hands to gain their attention. "Alright, we're out of time. For homework, just practice that and try to duplicate something small tonight."

Jade shoved her books into her bag. "Finally."

"Class wasn't that long," Rose commented from behind her.

Jade turned slowly and met her gaze. "You're kidding, right?"

Rose shook her head. "I enjoyed it."

"Each to their own I guess." Jade hooked her bag over her shoulder. "You coming to lunch?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a moment. Just need to drop my bag in the dorms," Rose sighed. "Flight class next."

"Oh, who with?" Jade grinned.

"Slytherins."

" _Great_."

"Hey!" Arthur covered his heart with his hand. "I take offence to that!"

Jade squinted at him. "We have most classes with you and I _always_ end up next to you."

"Not always. Just sit somewhere else next time." Arthur folded his arms. "If you dislike it that much."

Jade shook her head. "I just want to have some classes with Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. I don't know any of their names."

"So sit with them at lunch."

"We're allowed?"

Arthur opened his mouth, and closed it. "I… don't know."

"We're not," Jack supplied as he neared them. "Also." He leaned over and whacked Arthur's head.

"Ow!"

"Next time don't be a know-it-all."

Arthur scowled. "Why do you all hate me?"

"We don't hate you," Sam protested. "We just… yeah, okay, we hate you."

Arthur gave a dramatic gasp, and Jade rolled her eyes. "I'm going to lunch. I'll see you guys at flight class."

* * *

"Nope. Nope. I can't fucking do this." Sam clenched their hands in their pockets.

"Why not?" Rose nudged them. "You'll be fine. You've been doing well in every class so far."

"Yeah, but they don't involve flying fifty feet into the fucking air." Sam glanced up and looked down again. "Nope."

"Just tell Madame Hooch and don't do it then." Rose shrugged.

Karl hummed. They had found him trying to find his way out and between the three of them, they had managed to escape the castle. "But Jack."

"What about him?" Rose asked as Sam groaned.

"He's an asshole. You're lucky you haven't had to deal with him all that much."

"He can't be th- okay, no. I'm not going to jinx it."

"No, jinx him," Karl urged. "It might make him more bearable."

Rose stared at him. "But… A jinx would make him worse."

"Then why would you do the jinx?" Karl tilted his head.

"It's a muggle term," Sam sighed. "By jinxing something, it's like… Uh… Saying, 'At least it's not raining', and then it starts raining."

"So…" Karl frowned. "It's almost like a spell? Saying it won't happen will make it happen?"

"Exactly." Rose nodded.

"Oh. Okay then." Karl looked ahead. "Maybe you shouldn't jinx him then. He's been in a bad mood since he got detention."

"Again?" Sam looked up at Karl. "Isn't that two days running from her?"

"Who?" Rose asked.

"Gaffney." Karl rolled his eyes. "She's a monstrosity of a teacher, barely ever tells us what to do, and then complains because we don't even know what we don't know because she can't teach. She spent most of class today yelling at Jack for trying to help the Hufflepuff beside him because she didn't know how to do the spell."

"But… it's her job to teach, and when she doesn't teach, why is she complaining when he helps?" Rose frowned. "He's lessening her workload and everything."

Karl shook his head. "She just really dislikes him."

"I'm so glad we don't have her," Sam muttered. "We have Flitwick instead. He just got really excited whenever we got the spell right."

"Yeah, you're lucky," Karl sighed. As they neared the grassy area they had been instructed to go to, the lines of students came into view.

"We might be late," Rose mumbled.

"Just slide in at the back," Karl whispered. They split up, slipping in where an empty space was available in the house-divided lines.

Sam scowled when they saw Jack standing across from them. Jack smirked and silently tutted, shaking his finger.

"First things first," Madame Hooch called. "Stick your hands out over your brooms, and say, 'up'. Then we'll keep going with the plan."

Sam shot Rose a panicked look. They missed the plan. Rose shrugged and began mimicking the students.

Sam held their hand out over their broom. "Up." It shot up, and they barely avoided being smacked in the head.

Jack snickered. "Up." His broom shot up, and he caught it with ease. Karl's broom reacted similarly, as did Arthur's, and Saoirse's. Jessica glared at hers when it didn't go up the first time, and when she said it the second time, it jumped up.

Sam stuck out their tongue as Rose's broom swayed from side to side in a slow upward spiral until she finally grabbed it from mid-air. Jade mumbled, "Up," enough times under her breath that the broom floated up slowly, but steadily.

One or two people just leaned down and grabbed their brooms because they just _wouldn't go up_. Elliot, about as subtle as a bag of highlighters, dropped his when he bent down and had to fumble for it several more times before he even managed to grab it.

Madame Hooch didn't seem all that bothered. Once everyone had their brooms in hand, she blew her whistle. "Alright. Next, mount your brooms. And no one kick off before I blow this whistle again."

"Bet you're too scared to even do this," Jack hissed at Sam as they mounted.

Sam looked across at him, their eyes steeling. "Bitch watch me," they snapped. They kicked up, screaming the second they left the ground.

"Dire, get back down here!" Madame Hooch roared.

"Oh dear." Rose sighed. She looked over at Madame Hooch. "I'll just…" She kicked up into the air.

"White! Dire! Get down!"

"I'm just going to get them!" Rose called back as she followed Sam up. She caught up to them soon enough, though Sam was flailing on the broom and leaning forward to accelerate. Rose sighed, one eyebrow raised, an expression somewhere between amused and unimpressed on her face. Sam was still screeching like a pterodactyl. "Are you ready to go down?" Rose called. "Or do you still have a point to prove?"

"He can go fuck himself!" Sam screamed.

"Sam, wh-" Rose blinked. "Sam. Stop."

"Bet he didn't expect this!" Sam cackled.

"Sam, you're crying."

"I'm not crying, you're crying!"

"Sam, get off the broom!" Rose yelled.

Sam stopped, hovering on the spot. Rose had to pull a sharp turn to avoid crashing into them. "Why did you yell at me?"

"Okay, I'm bringing you down before we get into any more trouble for being up here." Rose shook her head.

Sam stared at her. "But why did you yell at me?"

Rose sighed. "Sam… You see, the reason I yelled at you is…" She leaned in close, as though about to expose the lifelong family secret that her six successive grandfathers died to keep safe. "You're an idiot." She glared at them. "Land!"

Sam frowned but followed her down to the ground, a dejected look on their face. Jack was still laughing when they reached the ground.

* * *

"I still can't believe you did that." Karl shook his head, dipping his quill into the pot of ink. Most of the Slytherin first years had just decided to try and get homework done together so that there was at least one person good at each subject, and people who struggled with those subjects could get help.

"I didn't know." Elliot frowned.

"You kept climbing the girls' staircase even after it turned into a slide," Arthur snickered.

"I thought it was a test."

"You latched onto the railing and tried to keep pulling yourself up," Scorpius added.

"I thought it was a _test_."

"The prefect had to levitate you down and bring you up to the boys' dorm," Arthur reminded him, "and tell us to make sure you didn't try to go back down."

"I thought it was a test!" Elliot cried. "And it happened yesterday! You all saw it! You all knew it happened! Can we _please_ drop it!"

"I didn't know it happened," Albus piped up.

"Yeah, that's what you get for going up to your dorm early." Arthur nudged him.

Albus rolled his eyes as Elliot whined and hid his face in his hands. "I hate you all."

"No you don't," Arthur laughed. "Hey, what's the point of this Potions essay?"

"Snape. That's the point." Karl sighed.

Elliot leaned on his hand as he scanned what he had already written. "I'm done but I only have a foot."

"Let me see." Saoirse glanced at it. "No wonder; your writing is _tiny_."

"It's not that small."

Arthur glanced at it. "Holy shit, it is."

"Okay, but will he be okay with it?" Elliot groaned.

"Probably not. He asked for three feet," Karl pointed out. "Most others would be, but this is Snape."

"I guess…" Elliot sighed and grabbed another roll of parchment. He began transcribing what he had already written, but in bigger writing.

The door from the hallway swung open. Arthur frowned when he saw Jack walk in. "You're late."

"No shit." Jack rubbed his wrist as he flopped onto the couch beside Saoirse. "She had me lifting books all over her room."

Elliot frowned. "Is that a normal detention?" He asked. "In my old school, we just… wrote out the school rules a few times for an hour."

"You only got an hour of detention?" Saoirse's eyebrows arches. Elliot nodded slowly. "Did you go to a muggle school?"

"Yeah," Elliot replied, his voice as slow as his nod was.

"Huh. Muggles are weird." Saoirse shook her head. "Here we get the detention for as long as it takes us to do a job." She looked over at Jack. "But didn't she have you do that yesterday?"

Jack nodded, still rubbing his arm. "Yeah. She had me move everything back to the way it was before I moved them last night."

"Now _that_ is weird." Karl closed his book. "She didn't have you do anything else?"

Jack shook his head. "Nope. Just move the books back into the exact same positions."

"Then why haven't you stopped rubbing your arm?" Elliot asked.

Jack dropped his hand. "No reason. The books just seemed a lot heavier today."

"Your arms are probably still just tired after yesterday," Albus commented. "Books don't get heavier."

Jack hummed. "Maybe." He didn't seem all that convinced.

Scorpius closed his book. "I'm going to go to bed. It's pretty late."

"Yeah, me too." Jack yawned.

Arthur caught his arm before he could leave. "You still need to do homework."

Jack's face crumpled and he groaned. "Fuck."

"Here, you can copy some of mine." Elliot passed him a few sheets of parchment as everyone began standing up. "I'll stay up with you for a bit – I still need to finish this essay."

"You're such a bloody Hufflepuff," Jack chuckled, though he took the parchment.

"I'll stay too." Karl stretched. "I'm not sure if I want to be in the dorm with your snake when you're not there."

Jack grinned. "Wise choice."

Elliot glanced up at the stairs, the last glimpses of the rest of the group disappearing. "Should we tell Albus and Scorpius about that snake?"

Jack snickered. "Nah. They'll figure it out themselves."

* * *

 **Hope you guys enjoyed! Please review! See you next time, Murdering Majestors!**


	2. Chapter 02: Want a Jellytot?

**Hey, guys. I'm really sorry that this took so long, but I found it really hard to write this year due to multiple things. I'm finally finished my exams, so I'll be trying to update more and more this summer. Hopefully that will actually happen! Anyway, enjoy.**

 **CW:** Swearing, hints of abusive parents. If I missed any, let me know.

* * *

"Alright, everyone." Professor Lupin's smile was tired, but ever-present as he sat on his desk. Behind him, the wardrobe rattled. A few of the second years stepped back. "Don't worry - it's not going to harm you," he chuckled. "Today, we're moving on to boggarts. Can anyone tell me what a boggart is?"

Jack didn't speak up, which was surprising. He usually knew the answers to these.

It was Saoirse who finally raised her hand. "It's a creature that takes the form of whatever the nearest person to it is most afraid of."

"Exactly." Professor Lupin's smile grew. "Five points to Slytherin." He glanced back at the cupboard. "In there is a boggart. A small one, mind. Now does anyone know how to get rid of one?"

Ella was the next to speak - a Gryffindor with long, blonde hair. "You have to make it into something funny, right?"

"Very good." Professor Lupin smiled again. "Five points for Gryffindor. We have to make the boggart take the form of something we find amusing - it's _laughter_ that really gets a boggart. Now I want you to all repeat after me; Riddikulus."

"Riddikulus." The class chanted after him a few times until he knew they all had it right.

"Excellent. That's the spell you'll be using to get rid of the boggart." Professor Lupin looked around. "Now I'm going to need a volunteer." Everyone shuffled but no one stepped forward. "Don't worry; this is my classroom, and I won't let it harm you."

After a moment, Ella stepped forward, pulling out her wand. "Do we need a particular wand movement?" If she was nervous, she didn't sound it.

"Just the basic attack." Professor Lupin nodded. "Now, what's your worst fear?"

Ella hesitated. "Fireworks," she admitted after a moment. A few Slytherins snickered behind her.

Professor Lupin nodded. "Okay. I want you to imagine any way you can think of to make fireworks funny. It can be something else entirely if you want. But you need to be able to laugh at it. Okay?"

Ella nodded and gripped her wand. "On three," Professor Lupin called as he limped over to the closet, "I'm going to open the door. Ready?" Again, she nodded. "One... Two... Three."

The door unlocked itself and a blaze of fireworks shot up into the classroom around Ella. She gritted her teeth and covered both ears.

After a moment, she aimed her wand at them. _"Riddikulus!"_ The fireworks fused into a tabby cat that flailed in mid-air for a moment. It screeched as it fell and landed on Professor Lupin. The class burst into laughter as the cat started running around the class.

"Very good!" Professor Lupin cackled. "Next!"

Karl stepped up. The cat paused and stared at him for a moment. In a twist, a beautiful long-eared owl lay on the floor, its neck bent at an awkward angle.

Karl swallowed and pointed his wand at his owl. " _Riddikulus!_ " The owl chirped and twisted, flying up into the air. A version of Professor Gaffney appeared in the corner and the owl dived at her. She shrieked as it flew into her face.

Lupin covered his mouth, shoulders shaking. "Next!"

Karl was grinning as he stepped back, and Elliot stumbled forward having been doubled over from laughing.

Professor Gaffney disappeared, and the owl flew at Elliot. Halfway there, it twisted into a small child with long, red hair wearing a pink top, and rainbow leggings.

Elliot took a step back as the child neared him. " _Riddikulus!"_

The child was now wearing a pink gown and a tiara. She giggled, a wide grin on her face.

He tried again. _"Riddikulus!"_ The child twisted into a frog riding a unicycle.

A few people screamed, "Here come dat boi!" Followed by, "Oh shit, waddup!"

Professor Lupin looked confused, along with most of the students, but the laughter was infectious and they joined in.

Jack was shoved up by someone, and as he turned to glare at them, the frog twisted into an exact replica of him.

The boggart sneered and looked him up and down. "Why do you even bother?" Professor Lupin raised an eyebrow. "Everyone knows you hate them. Why do you even pretend to like them all?"

Jack pointed his wand at it. " _Riddikulus."_ The Boggart's form didn't shift, but it burst out laughing and finger gunned everyone behind Jack.

"Next!" Professor Lupin called, smiling.

Salem stepped up, pushing hair out of his face. The boggart shifted and morphed into a giant creature with sharp fangs and blood dripping down its face.

" _Riddikulus!"_

A giant dog was suddenly bounding towards him. It tackled him to the ground and began furiously licking his face. The class started giggling as Salem managed to push the dog off and move back.

A Gryffindor moved forward, and a giant hawk zoomed towards him. He turned it into a fat seagull, causing laughter from everyone except Paddy, who flinched back.

Jack grinned, and leaned closer to him as Devie walked up. "So, you're definitely going to tell us about that flinch later, right?"

"What flinch?"

"That one. The one from the seagull."

"Please?" Saoirse added. "You know we're going to find out either way."

"I hate you both. There's no way I'm telling you." Paddy folded his arms and blew blue hair out of his eyes.

Saoirse looked over at Jack. "Bet I can find out before you."

"You wish," Jack scoffed.

The class started laughing as Devie turned a dragon into Barney the Dinosaur.

Even most of the half-bloods knew that one.

Paddy went next to avoid Jack and Saoirse. Like Jack, his boggart turned into a replica of himself - paler, with darker eyes and a sneer. The boggart raised a wand and pointed it behind Paddy, but the latter got there first. _"Riddikulus!"_

An old scientist stood there now, hugging four different kittens at once. "It's for science!" He screamed.

Only the Muggleborns seemed to get that one.

Saoirse walked up next. The scientist morphed into two adults about six foot something glaring down at her.

One opened her mouth, but Saoirse was already pointing her wand at them. "We're disappointed in you."

 _"Riddikulus!"_ They were replaced by a giant hat. After a moment, a very small, black dog nosed its way out and stared up at the class.

Professor Lupin started laughing as the boggart twisted into a few different forms. "It's getting confused! Very good - keep going! Next!"

A few Gryffindors went next - after complaining that the Slytherins were taking up too much time. Angel hopped up, and when the boggart looked at them, it transformed into a snarling daemon with a wolf's face, dressed all in black. They scowled. " _Riddikulus!"_ The daemon turned into a tiny, pink rabbit the size of Angel's little finger.

When Scorpius took their place, the boggart became a woman lying on the floor, face blue, which quickly turned into a hopping tree stump. When Albus stepped up, everyone was surprised to see Harry Potter appear, but he was quickly turned into a cat with glasses.

Arthur stepped up, and the boggart turned into a girl. Then a boy. Then another girl. "You're useless," it spoke, between transformations. "We only ever kept you around because we felt sorry for you."

Arthur gripped his wand.

"Why would we want you otherwise?" The girl shrugged, and then the boy laughed. "You let us copy your work, and that was it. Who would want-"

Professor Lupin began to step forward, but Arthur roared, " _Riddikulus,"_ and suddenly, they both froze.

"NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP," the two sang, loudly and off-key. "NEVER GONNA LET YOU DOWN!"

The Muggleborns all groaned and a few flipped Arthur off. He just looked smug as he walked back to his place.

"I hate you," Elliot muttered. "I should never have shown you that song."

"You probably shouldn't have," Arthur agreed with a grin.

Professor Lupin waved his wand and the boggart flew back into the cupboard. "I'm afraid that's all for today," he said as he locked the door. "Homework is to practice the pronunciation - the clearer you speak, the more powerful it will be. Five points for everyone who faced the Boggart today."

Jack caught Paddy's arm and pulled him back when he tried to leave. "Nope. You're going to tell us about the seagull."

"I have to go to class." Paddy tried to pull free.

Saoirse caught his other arm. "You and Arthur have gotten close. Would he tell us if we asked him?"

Paddy huffed. "I hate you both."

"We know." They both smiled sweetly. "Now spill."

Paddy shook them both off. "When I was little, my mom used to take me down to the beach every day and get me some Muggle sweets - jellytots or something like that. One day a swarm of seagulls sort of bombdived me and I didn't realise they were after the jellytots so I just started running and trying to scare them off but they wouldn't leave me alone. It took twenty minutes for my mom to get rid of them." He scowled as Jack and Saoirse burst out laughing. "I swear to God, if either of you tell anyone-"

"We won't," Saoirse snickered.

Paddy's scowl deepened, but he nodded and walked off. Jack grinned and turned to Saoirse. "So how do we get jellytots and a gull into the school?"

* * *

"I still don't see the appeal," Scorpius mumbled as he watched the match.

Jack snorted. "That's surprising considering your boyfriend is playing."

Scorpius' face burned. "Albus isn't my boyfriend."

"You wish he was." Jack smirked. Before Scorpius object, Paddy sat down beside them, and Jack turned to him. "By the way, do you want some sweets? I got some in today."

Paddy looked suspicious, but he nodded. "Sure."

Jack's smirk grew, and he and Saoirse simultaneously pulled a packet of jellytots from their pockets. "Here you go."

Paddy stared at them for a moment, then stuffed them down the back of Jack's cloak. "I hate you. So much."

Jack pulled them out and passed one packet back to Saoirse. "Now that was just plain rude."

 _"And Potter takes the Quaffle! A bludger aimed his way by Beater O'Leary, but- oh, he dodges. Pity. Sorry, Professor, sorry."_

Jack grinned and looked back at Scorpius. "You have to admit the commentary is entertaining at least."

"I guess." Scorpius nodded. "I don't know why they always let the same person do it though. It must be hard on the Slytherin players."

Jack snorted. "Elliot's probably the only one that would take it to heart." He glanced over the field. "Yeah. Just him."

Scorpius hummed.

 _"Chaser White takes the Quaffle for Ravenclaw - she's going towards the Slytherin goals and-! Oh, blocked by Keeper Quinn."_

"Who's the seeker again?" Karl asked. He didn't look all that interested in the game, but he tried to keep an eye on who was who.

"Uh..." Jack frowned.

"It's someone from fourth year," Scorpius replied. "I think Fletcher?"

"She's found it."

 _"The Slytherin seeker is speeding towards the ground- has she-?"_

A bludger shot towards her, and one of the Slytherin beaters knocked it away.

"Did she get it?" Jack leaned forward a little.

Karl narrowed his eyes. "No... No, she didn't." The bludger had distracted her, and she pulled back up again.

 _"White has the Quaffle again and- It's in! Ten points to Ravenclaw! Take that you- Sorry, Professor."_

Jack rolled his eyes as he sat back. Saoirse held out her jellytots to Paddy again and he glared at her.

Scorpius looked up at Karl. "Was the owl today yours?"

Karl looked at him and smiled. "Yeah. Her name's Circe."

"She means a lot to you, huh?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "My parents got her for me about... five years ago. She's pretty much been my only friend until I came here."

Scorpius tilted his head. "Because of your family?" Karl sighed and nodded again. "That's hard." Scorpius pursed his lips. They had talked a bit before, but they had really only chatted about class or homework.

Karl shrugged. "I could have had it worse." He looked out over the field again. His shoulders were hunched up higher than they usually were, so Scorpius dropped the topic.

 _"Both Seekers are rushing towards the Ravenclaw goalposts now! They seem to be neck-and-neck, but- Oh, Fletcher pulls ahead and- she has it!"_

Fletcher pulled up sharply, arm raised above her head. The Slytherin stand burst into cheers and applause, and Scorpius had to cover his ears.

 _"Slytherin wins two hundred and forty points to one hundred and seventy!"_

The players began flying down to the ground. Scorpius hesitantly lowered his hands. "I'm just-"

"Go congratulate your boyfriend!" Jack pushed him towards the stairs.

"We're not dating!" Scorpius called over his shoulder.

Jack cackled. "Yet!"

* * *

"You _what_?" Arlene hissed, staring.

Jack shrugged. "I don't know what Mulan is. A weapon?"

"Of sorts." Elliot shook his head. "You two haven't seen Disney. At all."

"No." Saoirse frowned. "What is it? A game, or-?"

Elliot and Arlene exchanged a look that was somewhere in the middle of amused, dismayed, and betrayed. "They're films," Elliot finally whispered. "They're a company who make films."

Jack nodded. "Oh, right. So what part do you usually play?"

Wizarding films had turned out to be rather different from muggle ones, Elliot and Arlene had discovered, _after_ a trip to the cinema in Diagon Alley.

Upon entering the theatre, you chose a character and played a part in the film with whoever else was there. The maximum amount of people allowed in were ten, and most movies used fake spells and weapons. A black market ran in Knockturn Alley on real spells and weapons.

In the first film they had tried - _Merlin_ \- Arlene had been turned into a stump within the first twenty minutes, and Elliot had died shortly after.

"No, not like wizarding films." Arlene shook her head. "The Muggle ones are like..."

"Like pictures," Elliot explained. "We just watch them. No taking part."

"Oh." Jack frowned. "That sounds dull."

"But they're _great_ ," Arlene insisted. "Especially Disney."

Elliot's eyes lit up as he turned to her. "We have to show them all of them."

"All?" Arlene's eyebrows arched.

" _All._ " Elliot nodded. "I have my laptop and most of them downloaded. We can use that."

"Those things work here?" Saoirse frowned.

Jack nodded. "He uses it every night. The light's really weird."

"Well excuse me for not wanting to lose my log-in streaks and roleplay partners this year." Elliot folded his arms.

"So when are we doing this?" Arlene asked.

Saoirse chewed her tongue. "I could probably sneak up to your dorm tonight?"

"We don't have classes tomorrow," Elliot agreed, "so that should work."

"How will I get in?" Arlene tilted her head.

"We'll let you in," Jack assured her. "Come down with us after dinner."

Arlene nodded in agreement as Professor Gaffney walked into the classroom.

"Take out your wands," she called. "We're having a bit of a test today to see what you remember from last week."

Arlene's face crumpled. So far, she hadn't managed to complete a revealing charm without Jack's help.

Professor Gaffney waved her wand and mumbled a spell under her breath. Two dozen sheets of paper flew off her desk and began to distribute themselves to everyone.

"You'll have until the end of the lesson to fully reveal the message on the paper in front of you."

Jack raised an eyebrow as he looked at the page. " _Aparecium."_

Within minutes, the page was full of thick, black text, clearly reading, _Congratulations._

Elliot and Arlene still didn't have anything beside him, and in the row in front, the first letter was appearing for Saoirse.

He glanced around the class. Everyone else was still working on it. He sighed and raised his hand.

"How could you already have a question, Beaumont?" Professor Gaffney snapped.

"I'm done, Professor." He held up his sheet.

Arthur finished his and held it up. "Me too."

Professor Gaffney huffed and sent another two sheets to them.

 _Congratulations._

 _Congratulations._

The pattern repeated until the tenth sheet for Jack. Arthur kept going with his, and so did everyone that joined him.

But Jack scowled at the sheet, repeating the spell over and over again. Nothing appeared.

He tried the other side a few times, wondering if it had landed the wrong way, but nothing worked.

When the clock rang midday, Professor Gaffney yanked the sheets from everyone.

"Beaumont, detention."

"Why?" Jack sounded tired. It was only the fifth day.

"You didn't manage to complete the task." She flicked through the rest of her sheets. "Smith, you can join him."

Jack just sighed and began packing his books. Scorpius' hand wavered up into the air. "Professor, he got it the past nine times."

Professor Gaffney smiled at him, too sweetly. "But he didn't finish it like everyone else did on the last time, Malfoy. And neither did Smith. That's why they'll both be spending their afternoons with me. Unless you want to join them, I suggest you pack your books."

Scorpius looked down and slipped his books into his bag.

Jack sighed. "At least it's not after dinner," he muttered.

"Still, it's not fair," Arlene whispered.

" _She_ isn't fair."

* * *

The Halloween feast was always spectacular, and this one was absolutely no exception. People moved from table to table, chatting with friends between houses, while the teachers pretended not to notice.

Arlene sat at the Hufflepuff table, reading something on her phone.

"Hey."

She looked up as another Hufflepuff sat beside her - Emily, a girl in third year with long purple hair and a round, friendly face.

"Oh, hi." Arlene grinned.

"Sorry, you looked a bit lonely down here so I wanted to chat to you." Emily smiled. "Where are your friends?"

"Oh, well..." Arlene glanced around. "Most of them are in Slytherin, and there's one in Ravenclaw."

"Really?" Emily's eyebrows arched. "You didn't make friends with people in Hufflepuff?"

Arlene shrugged, waving a hand. "Sort of. I talk to them, and they're nice. I'm just not all that close to any of them."

"What about that one that constantly forgets his robes? Uh, what's his name... I never see him around." She looked over the other tables. "There, in the Slytherin robes. Did he switch with someone for a joke?"

Arlene looked over to see Emily pointing at Elliot. "Oh, Elliot. No, he's a Slytherin."

Emily stared at her. "What?"

"Oh yeah." Arlene grinned. "Everyone thinks he's Hufflepuff - it's actually really amusing."

Emily frowned and looked back at him. "But isn't he Muggleborn?"

Arlene nodded. "Yeah - Jack still thinks he tricked the hat into putting him in Slytherin."

"No kidding." Emily shook her head, and her eyes landed on Arlene's phone. "Oh, were you reading something?"

Arlene nodded again. "Yeah, it's a _Redwall_ fanfiction."

Emily's eyes lit up. "You've read _Redwall_? Like, all of it?"

"Yup." Arlene grinned. "I'm rereading it at the moment, but this fanfiction is really good aside from the swearing, so I decided to take a break to read it."

Emily nodded. "Oh yeah, you don't like swearing, do you?" Arlene shook her head. "Why is that?" Arlene blinked at her a few times. "Something wrong?"

"No, it's just most people don't ask," she replied. "Well, it's kind of a mix of things. Before I came here, some stuff happened in my old school and people swearing just tends to remind me of that a lot."

Emily nodded. "So it's kind of a trigger?"

"Not really," Arlene admitted after a moment of thought. "It's not that bad. It just reminds me of it." Again, Emily nodded. "Also, it's just kind of like... there's billions of other words to use; can you not use others?"

"I get what you mean," Emily chuckled. "Anything else?"

"Well they also say it's a sin in the Bible," Arlene added.

Emily's eyebrows arched again. "You're religious?"

"Oh, yeah." Arlene nodded. "Why?"

"Most people here aren't, so it's kind of a surprise," Emily admitted.

"Oh, okay." Arlene relaxed a bit. "I thought you were going to say it's a bad thing."

"Nah, you believe what you believe." Emily shrugged. "Are you practicing?"

Arlene nodded. "I feel really bad - I haven't been able to go to mass at all except when I go home for the holidays."

Emily hummed. "You know there's a few religious students in every house who are practicing. Are you Catholic?"

"Presbyterian."

"Oh yeah, there's a good few in Gryffindor then. I think the, uh... the... fuck, what's his name?" Arlene frowned. "Right, swearing, sorry. Randles! The Randles kid might be too, but I don't know." Emily stole a chicken wing from the boy across the table while he wasn't looking and took a bite. "But anyway, they usually go and do a small service or prayer thing on Sundays."

"Really?" Arlene's eyes lit up as Emily nodded and took a bite of her wing. "Thank you so much, I didn't know about that."

"No problem." Emily grinned and swallowed. "I'll let you finish that fanfiction - send it to me later, okay?"

"Sure." Arlene nodded, smiling as Emily stood up. "Enjoy the rest of the feast."

"You too!"

Sam glanced over at the Hufflepuff table as Arlene turned on her phone again. They looked back at Jade. "Guaranteed pure-blood elitist."

Jade blinked a few times, and swallowed her mouthful of food. "What?"

"One of the Hufflepuffs," Sam huffed.

Jade raised an eyebrow. "A Hufflepuff pure-blood elitist?" She repeated, slower.

"Or at the very least a snobby pure-blood." Sam rolled their eyes and glanced back again.

Arlene was bent over her phone, flicking through her story.

Jade followed their gaze. "Are you sure?"

"She hates people swearing."

"Yeah...?"

"She just glared at someone for swearing near her."

Jade looked over at the table again. Arlene snorted at a joke in the story and covered her mouth. "Are you sure?"

Sam stared at her for a moment. "I literally just saw it happen."

"Okay." Jade nodded. "Maybe it's for a reason?"

"She said it was something religious."

"Did you listen in on the entire conversation?" Jade popped a piece of pie into her mouth.

"No." Sam folded their arms. "And even if I was, that doesn't change the fact that she's being a snobby elitist."

"Okay, but you don't know that she's being elitist."

"Snobby, then." They glanced back at Arlene. "Fuck it. Jade, do you have a quill and paper?"

"No, why?"

Sam didn't reply - merely looked down the table. "Jess?" Jessica looked up from her conversation with Rose. "Do you have a quill and paper?"

"Yeah, sure." She leaned over behind her and pulled a notebook, quill, and ink from her bag. "Here." She passed it down to Sam, who tore a blank page from the book and began to write on it. "What are you doing?"

"Just a thing." Sam grinned and folded the paper. After a minute, they held up an origami bird.

Jade tilted her head and saw _fuck you_ written in beautiful, cursive font on the bottom of the wings. "I don't think this is a good idea."

Sam shrugged and tapped their wand on the bird, muttering, " _Wingardium Leviosa."_

They directed the bird over Arlene and whistled loudly. She jumped, looked around, and then glanced up as the bird fell on top of her.

Sam grinned and whipped back around to the table, stowing their wand in their pocket.

Jessica, Jade, and Rose watched as Arlene crumpled the bird up after reading the message.

"What was that for?" Rose looked back at Sam.

"She was being rude to someone because they swore around her. Not _at_ her; around her." Sam took a bite of their pizza.

"She could recognise your writing," Jessica pointed out.

"Don't care." Sam shrugged.

"Then you should sign swears at her." Jessica grinned, putting a closed fist to her cheek and circling it. "This means whore in ISL. That'd be fun."

Sam's eyes lit up. "Actually, yeah, I want to learn how to sign."

Jade sighed and took a bite of her food. "I still think this is going to end badly."

Rose shook her head. "No, I know her. She's not going to do anything. In fairness, she's not a bad person. She just-"

"Hates people swearing for religious reasons?"

"-doesn't like swearing for various reasons," Rose finished.

Sam shook their head. "She still shouldn't be allowed to police what people say without even telling them that she doesn't like it. Like, I actually can't control my swearing. I have a friend who freaks out with swearing, and I just don't talk because I'd rather not talk than genuinely trigger someone. Glaring at someone for swearing is not okay, especially if they don't know why you're glaring or can't control it."

"Maybe she knows the person, and that person knew she didn't like swearing."

"Still shouldn't do that." Sam chewed their tongue. "Jess, can I borrow more paper?"

"Go for it." Jessica grinned.

Sam tore out another page as the doors to the Great Hall burst open, and Paddy stormed in.

His robe was hanging off one shoulder, his shirt was torn, his tie was just nowhere to be seen, and sticking out from recently-dyed hair was a bunch of white feathers.

"This looks like fun." Sam put down the quill, grinning as Paddy reached the Slytherin table.

"Jack."

Jack looked up at him and smiled. "Hey, Paddy. You're late - we saved you a seat."

Karl stared at him. "What... happened?"

"There was a gull in my room." Paddy refused to take his eyes off Jack until Saoirse gasped.

"Oh wow. Shocked." She put the back of her hand to her forehead. "And appalled. Who would do such a thing?"

"I fucking _wonder_." Paddy's glare flickered between Saoirse and Jack.

"What actually happened?" Arthur shook his head.

"There was a _gull_ in my _room_ ," Paddy repeated. "And I think it was there for a while; there was white stuff everywhere- but that's not the point!" He glared at Jack again. "You put it there!"

Jack gasped. "I would never. How could you even accuse me of such a thing?"

"Do you want us to get rid of it for you?" Elliot asked, half standing.

Paddy shook his head. "I got rid of it."

"How?"

"I punched it out a window."

Arthur was trying not to laugh, whereas Albus, Saoirse and Jack had given up on that. Most of the table was staring at them.

"How?" Scorpius asked. "The Slytherin dorms are under the lake."

Paddy twitched.

"Paddy what did you do?" Saoirse laughed.

Paddy opened his mouth, but Jack slid a small bag of jellytots towards him, distracting him.

"You fucking-" Paddy lunged across the table at him. Jack cackled and danced out of reach, running towards the door. "Get back here so I can kill you!" Paddy roared, chasing after him.

"It's a wonder none of the teachers came to see what was going on," Elliot muttered.

Albus snorted. "They don't really care on holidays."

Elliot glanced up at the teachers' table, and sure enough, all of the teachers but Gaffney were still enjoying their dinner. The Charms professor was glaring at the door.

"Hopefully that won't end badly for Jack now."

Angel glanced up from their food. "What do you mean?"

Kieran looked back at them. "The Charms teacher looks like she's about to go after him."

Angel rolled their eyes. "Jack's annoying as hell anyway. He probably deserves it."

"Did you hear what he did?" Ella asked.

Kieran shook his head. "I just saw him run out of the hall with the guy with green hair chasing after him screaming." He sighed. "Probably a wizard thing."

"I don't think so; it didn't happen last year," Ella noted.

"Still. It's really weird." Kieran shook his head. "I just kind of wish we were able to go home for Halloween. My town goes all-out for it."

"Really?" Ella frowned. "Lucky. Dublin's kind of blah about it. For a city, like."

"Cambridge isn't bad, but it's not great," Angel added. "What's your place like?"

"Pretty much everyone dresses up, and we used to have days at school where we just dressed up and played games," Kieran explained. "And there's a haunted house and forest organised, and a parade and stuff."

"Ugh, that sounds really fun," Ella sighed. "I thought I'd be able to test some of my prosthetics here, but apparently not."

Angel chewed their lip. "Well hang on, we could try and organise it for next year."

"Organise what?" Kieran raised an eyebrow.

"People dressing up," Angel clarified. "We could get most of the Muggleborns and Half-bloods in on it, anyway. And they might get some Purebloods involved."

Ella grinned. "Good idea, but that doesn't fix my prosthetics issue for this year."

Angel shrugged and took a bite of their cake. "Can't help you there, mate. Sorry."

"It's okay," Ella sighed. "I'll probably just wait until one of the Christmas cons at home. That way I can look cool and freak Muggles out with magic."

* * *

"Thank you for the wolfbane potion yesterday, Severus," Professor Lupin sighed as he limped beside the potions master.

Professor Snape nodded. "I trust the experience was relatively painless?"

"More so than usual, anyway." Professor Lupin smiled. "What did you change in it?"

"Not much. Just a few ingredients." Professor Snape looked over at him out of the corner of his eye for no more than a split second. "You know, if you're not up for class today, I can take over again. I don't mind."

"I appreciate the offer," Professor Lupin admitted, "but I've promised the third years to go over what they can expect in their Christmas test today. I think that if you showed up instead, we'd both be slaughtered."

"Indeed." Professor Snape didn't look all that impressed. "I thought a test was to _test_ them. Doesn't telling them what's on it remove the purpose?"

"Not necessarily. I don't believe anyone should be caught out on a test," Professor Lupin replied. He winced as he put a little too much weight on his bad leg. "I'm getting old."

"You are," Professor Snape scoffed. "Perhaps it's time to-"

"Professor Lupin!"

They both turned to see Sam half-running towards them. Professor Lupin smiled. "Hello, Dire. Can I help you with something?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, if it's okay with you, can I ask you a few questions?"

"What about?"

"Werewolves."

Professor Lupin's smile became strained and Professor Snape scowled. "Ah."

"I only realised they actually existed yesterday," Sam explained. "And I figured since you're the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, you'd know a lot about them."

"Yes, well..." Professor Lupin moved his cane to his left hand. "Now is a... slightly awkward time for me."

"Oh, do you have a class?" Sam asked. "I can come back after? Or-"

"Mister Dire, if you don't cease these irritating questions, I'll make sure you become _very_ practically informed about werewolves," Professor Snape snarled.

"Severus, please." Professor Lupin frowned at him. Sam just raised an eyebrow.

"Remus, you're not well."

"I'm fine." Professor Lupin turned to Sam. "I have class in an hour, but if you want, you can come back to my office and I'll make some tea."

"Sure, thanks." Sam grinned and followed Professor Lupin down the hall. They glanced back at Professor Snape to see him glaring at them until they turned the corner.

Once in his office, Professor Lupin busied himself with making a pot of tea. "What is it that you want to know?"

"How does someone become a werewolf?" Sam asked, sitting down at the table.

"Usually they need to be bitten at the full moon," Professor Lupin replied, "by another werewolf. There have been... one or two cases where people were bitten at another time. They don't fully transform, but they're never completely human again."

Sam nodded. "Is it painful to transform?"

"I would imagine so." Professor Lupin nodded and poured boiling water into two mugs. "How do you like your tea?"

"Black please," Sam replied.

Professor Lupin dropped two teabags into the mugs and sat across from Sam, passing them a spoon. "Werewolves are often left alone on the full moon but there have also been cases of animagi spending the night with them."

"Animagi?" Sam looked up.

Professor Lupin recognised that look from somewhere. "Humans who undergo a difficult progress to turn into an animal at will. The animal is usually the same as one's patronus."

"That's the thing that scares off Dementors, right?" Sam stirred a spoon of sugar into their tea as Professor Lupin nodded. "And you're teaching us that this year?"

"Towards the summer," Professor Lupin confirmed.

Sam took a sip of their tea and grimaced as it burned their tongue. "Can't humans be around werewolves?"

"No." Professor Lupin shook his head. "Or at least, there are no records of it. Not during the full moon. Werewolves are too temperamental and react badly to human contact. A werewolf when turned wouldn't know or care about the difference between a sibling, a partner, a friend, or an enemy." Sam slowly nodded. "What took your interest about the topic?"

They grinned. "I just really like wolves, honestly. I did a tonne of projects on them in primary school, and I always dressed up as a werewolf at Halloween."

Professor Lupin smiled, but it was a little strained. "I see. Is there anything else you want to know?"

"Uh..." Sam hesitated and took a sip of their tea again. "Why did Professor Snape react so badly when I asked?"

Professor Lupin pondered the question for a moment. "An old classmate of his was once bitten by a werewolf," he finally explained, "and Professor Snape nearly died because of him."

"Oh." Sam swallowed. "I, uh, sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"That's alright, Dire. I'm sure there was no harm done." Professor Lupin smiled again. "You'd better finish your tea. We should both start heading to class."

Sam nodded and drained the end of their cup. "Thank you, sir."

"Anytime." Professor Lupin nodded. "Feel free to come to me if you have any more questions."

* * *

Professor Snape walked into the room as Sam threw the paper airplane at Arlene. They hadn't stopped in the month since Halloween, and Arlene had grown wise to the types of paper animals they would send. She caught it and crumpled it into a tiny ball.

"Ten points from Ravenclaw." Professor Snape glared at Sam. "If it happens again, it will be twenty." Sam put their wand down. "I'm afraid that Professor Lupin is still sick, so you'll have the pleasure of having me as your teacher for the day." Professor Snape tapped the board. "What have you been covering?"

"We were just about to go on to werewolves," Jessica replied.

Professor Snape's lip curled and his eyes landed on Sam. "How _interesting_." He turned to the board and waved his wand. A partially transparent chart appeared, bearing the stages of the moon. "Turn to page three hundred and ninety four."

There was a rustle of pages as everyone flicked to the page.

"Can anyone tell me the difference between a werewolf and a regular wolf?" Sam raised their hand. "Anyone?" Snape mused, looking at the other side of the room. Sam rolled their eyes. Of course. "No one? Disappointing." His eyes landed on Sam. "Apologies, Dire. I didn't see you." Sure he didn't. "Go ahead."

"Werewolves typically have a longer snout and often walk on their hind legs," Sam replied. "They also only become wolves during the full moon."

"How insightful," Professor Snape sneered. "A werewolf only becoming a wolf during the full moon. Imagine that." Sam felt their cheeks burn. "Anything else?"

They hesitated. "When they transform, they can't distinguish between friend or foe. They would attack their partner just as easily as someone they've hated for their entire life."

"Well, it's better than werewolves only transform during the full moon." Professor Snape looked around the room. "Anything else?" Jade raised her hand. "Yes?"

"They often take a while to recover after a transformation, right?" She asked. "Like, they won't be as healthy as usual for about a week after the full moon."

"Correct." Professor Snape turned to the board. "Potions such as wolfbane have been created to ease the process for conscious werewolves, but require careful preparation, and they must be taken a few days prior to the transformation. If successful, it should lessen the pain and the aftershock to the system dramatically."

Sam frowned at the chart. The previous night had been unusually bright.

"Mister Dire?" They looked up at Professor Snape. "Is this not interesting enough for you?"

"It is." Sam nodded. "I was just looking at the chart."

After a moment, Professor Snape nodded and turned back to the board.

After class, Sam practically ran down to Professor Lupin's office without waiting for the others. They knocked on the door and after a moment, Professor Lupin emerged, looking as tired as the month before.

He smiled. "Can I do something for you, Dire?"

"I have a few more questions, if that's okay." Sam smiled.

Professor Lupin just nodded and held the door open for them. "I'm all out of tea, I'm afraid. I was planning to get some at Hogsmeade this weekend."

"That's okay." Sam shook their head and sat at the table.

"What was it that you wanted to ask?" Professor Lupin asked, sitting across from them.

"Are you a werewolf?"

Sam's voice was calm and curious, but the blood drained from Lupin's face. "I- Why do you ask?"

"Snape just gave us a lecture on werewolves because you were sick," Sam replied. "We were due to move onto it anyway, but he was pretty obvious about the cycle." Professor Lupin swallowed. "Plus you only ever get sick around the full moon."

After a moment, Professor Lupin smiled. "You're a very bright wizard, Dire. Well done." He leaned forward. "But I'd very much appreciate it if you didn't make this common knowledge. It's a very sensitive predicament that I'm in, and-"

"Don't worry, I won't," Sam assured him. "I wouldn't do that. I just wanted to see if I was right, that's all."

Professor Lupin relaxed back into his chair again. "I don't doubt that you wouldn't. Thank you, all the same."

"You shouldn't have to thank me for not telling people." Sam shook their head. "That's your business."

Professor Lupin's lip twitched. "Perhaps, but personal business often has a habit of becoming well known very quickly."

Sam nodded. "I won't tell anyone. Don't worry."

"I trust you." Professor Lupin nodded. "Now you had better get to class. You should have waited until lunch to come and talk to me."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Sam stood up. "Thanks for your time. And for telling me. Sorry."

"Don't be." Professor Lupin shook his head and stood up. "If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to come and talk to me."

"I won't." Sam smiled and left the office. "Thank you!"

* * *

"Hey." Elliot sat down next to Sam at the edge of the lake.

Sam looked over at him. "Oh, hey." They frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, sort of." Elliot fidgeted with the edge of his sleeve, not quite looking at Sam. "So, uh, you know Arlene?"

Sam frowned. "Yes. I know her."

Elliot winced. "And the swearing?"

"Yes. And I don't really appreciate being scolded for swearing." Sam turned back to the book in their lap.

"No, I-I didn't-" Elliot swallowed again. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Yes, you did." Sam glared at the page.

"No, I didn't," Elliot repeated, a little calmer this time. "Look, I just wanted to explain."

"What's there to explain? She's an elitist fucking Pureblood who can't wrap her head around the idea that us simple folk swear."

Elliot blinked. "What? No! She's not elitist. Hell, she's not even Pureblood. She's Muggleborn."

Now that was surprising. At the very least, Sam had expected her to be Half-blood.

"She still shouldn't make other people feel bad for swearing around her."

"I think it's a trigger or-"

"No, it's fucking not." Sam looked up at him, almost laughing. "Triggers can make you physically sick. Not getting irritated or annoyed because it goes against your religious beliefs. At the very most, that's a squick."

Elliot blinked. "A squick?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. That's possibly feeling sick or disgusted by something, and it's not a trigger."

Elliot looked down. "Sorry. I didn't know."

Sam sighed. "Look, don't apologise. I get that you're just trying to look out for her, but she shouldn't have asked you to-"

"She didn't." Elliot picked at his sleeve. "I just... you're both my friends and I just wanted to try and sort things out."

Sam sighed again and closed his book. "I know you meant well, but she shouldn't be doing that."

Elliot chewed his lip. "Look, I just- I can't... really explain, but she didn't have a good time at school. I don't think many people here did. But she had it pretty bad. I know it's not a trigger, but it really upsets her when someone swears at her - a lot more so than when people swear in general."

"Okay, now that I can understand," Sam conceded.

"I'm not asking you never to swear around her," Elliot told him. "I'm just asking you to stop sending her swears purposely and maybe apologise for it."

"It was a joke," Sam huffed.

"Not to her." Elliot hugged his legs to his chest. "Just... please?"

Sam sighed. "I'll stop. Okay?"

"Thank you." Elliot rested his forehead on his knees. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Sam shook his head.

Elliot tapped his fingers along his arm. "Thanks." He let out a breath and leaned back. "I just... She's the only person I live near from Hogwarts, and she gets a lot of shit here and at home. Y'know?" He swallowed. "Sorry."

"Don't be." Sam shrugged. "You're friends. I get that you want to look out for her."

Elliot nodded. "Yeah." He was frowning as he adjusted his glasses. "Sort of."

"Sort of?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

Elliot sighed. "She's sort of been in the foster care system. A lot. My parents are fostering her this year, but her old foster parents keep trying to get her back, and they just-" He swallowed. "They sort of... uh... they were abusing her quite badly. There's a really nice couple looking into adopting her, but it's really hard to keep those other guys away from her."

"Oh." Sam looked over at him. "Is that why-"

"Yeah, partially. Also the religion thing, but yeah." He nodded. Sam hesitated before pulling a sheet of paper out of his bag. "What are you doing?"

"One sec." Sam pulled out his quill and wrote something. He folded it and mumbled a hovering charm under his breath. He glanced around and flew the bird over to Arlene, sitting by the edge of the castle. She grabbed it and crunched it up into a small ball. "Damn it." They glanced over at Elliot. "I'll stop and I'll apologise. Okay?"

Elliot nodded. "Okay. Thanks. And I'm really sorry - I didn't- I didn't mean it to seem like I was scolding you, or-or-"

"I know; don't worry about it." Sam nudged him. "Relax. Okay?"

Elliot let out a breath. "Okay. Thanks."

They sat in silence for a moment before Sam glanced at him. "I heard about your boggart at the start of the year." Elliot stared at the grass. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He shrugged. "Not really. It wasn't a big deal."

"It was literally your worst fear. That's kind of a big deal."

"It's fine." He shook his head. They fell into silence again, but every now and then Sam glanced at him. "Please stop."

"I'm not doing anything."

"Yes you-" Elliot let out a breath. "Look, I- I'm proud of who I am, and who I was. And I don't want to be _that trans guy_ whose worst fear is people seeing him as a girl but-"

"Hey." Sam cut him off, shifting to meet his gaze. "You're okay."

"It's not." Elliot shook his head. "There are so many worse things to be scared of."

"So?" Sam shrugged. "Someone's boggart was a fucking clown. There are worse things than that - that doesn't mean that it can't be their worst fear."

"Well it shouldn't be mine." Elliot ran a hand through his hair and gripped it. "And I don't know how to change it."

"I don't know that you can," they admitted. "Not the way you want to."

"Yeah." Elliot folded his arms and shrugged. "Yeah..." He let out a slow breath and began pulling at strands of grass. "I'm sorry. You don't need to hear this."

"Hey, it's okay. I asked." Sam shrugged.

"Mm." Elliot picked up a daisy. "Still."

"Look, it's fine. If you don't want to talk about it now, we can do it at some other stage," they pointed out, "or you can talk to someone else. Yeah?"

"Yeah." He offered a tiny smile. "Thanks."

* * *

"What are you guys doing for Christmas?" Albus asked, dropping onto one of the couches.

"Staying," was an immediate response from Arthur, Karl, Jack, and Paddy.

"Wait, really?" Scorpius looked up from his book frowning. "Why?"

Arthur shrugged. "Family stuff."

"Okay, but..." His frown deepened. "It's _Christmas_."

"And I'm not religious, so it means nothing to me aside from presents." Jack shot Scorpius with his finger.

"Still..."

"It's fine." Arthur waved a hand. "What are you guys planning?"

"The Burrow. It's where Rose - Gryffindor Rose, not Ravenclaw Rose - and her family live," Albus sighed. "We always go there for Christmas."

"You don't sound like you want to," Elliot commented.

"It won't be as bad as last year. Scorpius and his dad are coming too."

Saoirse grinned. "How'd you get your parents to agree to that?"

"It wasn't all that hard for me," Scorpius admitted. "I think my dad's wanted to be Harry Potter's friend for a long time - he just didn't want to say it."

"And him challenging my dad to a quidditch match helped," Albus snorted. "So it's going to be him and Ron versus Ginny and Draco."

"Ginny is going to slaughter them all."

"Oh definitely." Albus looked over at Elliot. "How about you?"

"It's..." Elliot hesitated. "It's complicated. I'm probably going to end up staying here with Arlene."

"Rose is staying too," Karl added, "and Sam."

"Jess too." Elliot nodded.

"Damn." Albus leaned back. "Is anyone else staying?"

Paddy looked over at the sheet. It updated every time a name was added to the list, the names colour coordinated by house. "Ella, Angel, and Kieran are staying. Salem and Devie too - not really sure who they are. Oh, and Charlotte."

Albus stood up and walked over to it, adding his name to the list. Scorpius followed him over.

"What are you doing?" Saoirse frowned.

"Staying for the holidays."

"Oh, put me down too," Saoirse called. Albus nodded.

"But you-" Paddy began.

"Our plans have changed." Scorpius grinned at them. "We're not letting all of our friends stay here without us over the holidays."

"Plus I think I can miss my dad getting drunk on firewhiskey and playing quidditch this year." Albus rolled his eyes and stepped away. "Besides, if we left, we'd miss Saoirse trying to flirt with Charlotte."

"Hey!" Saoirse scowled at him. "I don't try. I succeed."

"Sure." Albus snorted. He plopped back into his seat. "Anyway, they're probably going to merge all the houses until everyone's back, and knowing Elliot and Arlene, there's going to be a movie marathon."

"Disney all the way." Elliot grinned.

"Exactly." Albus pointed at him. "I don't want to miss that."

"Can we make it a wizard film marathon?" Arthur mused. "Like keep the Disney films, but just change them so we can take part?"

"I've never tried it before," Elliot admitted, "but we probably could."

"I can probably get it working." Jack stretched. "Bring me down your laptop." Elliot hesitated. "Relax, I won't break it."

"If you do, you're buying me another one."

"If I do, I'll fix it." Jack looked over at him. "I can't do it if I don't have the films."

"Fine." Elliot walked over to the stairs.

Saoirse watched him but waited until he was gone to turn to Jack. "Everything okay?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Don't know. You just kind of seem..." She shrugged. "A bit off?"

"I'm fine. Just tired." He stretched. "Gaffney kept me in longer than usual today. I had to rearrange her entire room."

Scorpius grimaced. "Things got heavier?"

Jack nodded. "Probably just because I didn't sleep enough last night," he admitted. "I'll be fine." He looked up as Elliot returned. "Great. Pass it over and I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Christmas morning was always a messy affair at Hogwarts - that year more than ever. Everyone went downstairs to the kitchen and cooked whatever they wanted for themselves. Most of the house elves had the morning off and came back in the afternoon to cook dinner.

The teachers had pushed the house tables to the sides and everyone sat at the one table in their pyjamas or weekend clothes, and the teachers did their best to keep them entertained for an hour.

Any house elves that had wanted to work for the whole day set up a joint dorm near the great hall. Instead of beds, there were sleeping bags and bean bags, but it was cosy enough and a fire roared all day.

The Christmas tree in the dorm brushed the roof, and everyone's presents were underneath it when they returned from breakfast.

"Honestly, I like this better than going home," Albus admitted, sitting down in one of the bean bags with his last present. Everyone was sitting in a circle, chatting as they opened them.

Arlene nodded. "I like both a lot, but this is really fun too." Sam glanced over at her as she picked up a blue present. "Plus this way I get to make presents for everyone."

"You _made_ them for everyone?" Arthur's eyebrows arched.

"I tried to, anyway. I didn't have enough time to do everyone," she admitted. "I got everyone here done though."

"Ah, thank you." Salem grinned and hugged her. He liked hugging people - which a few people found out when he went to hug them without asking and they nearly panicked.

Arlene, however, didn't mind it. "You're welcome!" She returned the hug and turned back to the blue present.

It was small but wrapped intricately and had a card attached to it. It read her name in block print, but unlike the others had nothing in the part that was left for the sender to sign their name.

She frowned and carefully opened it. Inside was a framed photo of herself and her parents - or, they would be her parents once they got to sign the papers anyway. They all waved up at her, and a dove on the frame fluttered its wings, showering glitter that floated around the frame.

"That's gorgeous," Elliot murmured, looking over her shoulder. "Do you know who sent it?"

She shook her head, carefully touching the glass. "I... No... There was no name on it."

"Check the card." Elliot nudged her with a smile.

Arlene opened the envelope with as much caution as the present. A small piece of paper fell out, and when she opened it, there was only one word sprawled across it in careful cursive font.

 _Sorry_.

She looked up to see Sam watching her and gave them a smile. "How did you even get this?"

They shook their head. "I had a bit of help. Do you like it?"

"I love it." She shifted a bit closer to them. "Can I hug you?"

"Sure." They grinned and Arlene wrapped her arms around them. "Sorry for that."

"Don't worry about it." She shook her head. "Thanks for apologising."

"Come on, let's get through the rest of these," Jack called, tearing open a package from Saoirse. A tall tin of jellytots emerged and Paddy glared at them. Jack snorted. "What? It's not like they're for you."

"I hate you both so much."

* * *

Jessica leaned her head against the window of the train. It had grown quite crowded with all sixteen of them in the one compartment.

Most people were on the couch, but six had to squeeze onto the floor. It was a mess, but this way everyone got to chat for the last time before they were split up for the summer.

"Jess!" Jade called, and she snapped her head up.

"Yeah?"

"You live in Kerry, right?" Elliot asked. She nodded. "Great, we can all meet up over summer then." He glanced over at Arlene.

"Probably won't be able to - my parents mightn't drive me anywhere," she commented.

"We'll pick you up then," Jess decided. "It shouldn't be too hard."

"And we can go up to Dublin at some stage to see everyone else." Elliot's eyes lit up. "Oh, is anyone going to a con? I want to do a group cosplay with someone."

"Yes!" Saoirse grabbed his hand.

"Magic costumes next Halloween are going to be great." Arthur smirked.

"And alchemy next year." Jack leaned back in his seat. He had been the first to sit down and had refused to give up his seat to anyone.

"Can we not talk about class right now," Angel groaned. "I still need to find a way to explain why I'm doing so badly in Potions."

"You're Gryffindor." Albus shrugged. "There's your explanation."

All too soon, the train rolled into the station and everyone had to manoeuvre their bags out of the carriage without hitting anyone in the face. Jack just stayed sitting until everyone else was done before getting his own trunk.

"Okay, so you guys are going to call us, right?" Elliot checked. "And you remember how to use a phone?"

"Of course." Paddy rolled his eyes. "We know how to use the phone."

"Okay, because last year my parents nearly had a heart attack when Arthur called and-"

"I won't let Arthur near the phone."

"Excuse you!" Arthur shot him a playful glare. "I can use the phone if I want to!"

"Sure."

Slowly, the group and the rest of the people on the platform dispersed until it was empty, all gone home for another three months.

* * *

 **Hope you guys enjoyed. Sorry for the last two paragraphs, and the second filler, but just one (or two) more fillers and then the plot will start, I promise. Please vote and review. See you next time!**


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